Today’s article is rich and varied, offering some timely information about Mental Health First Aid and our aim to train many more Australians, honouring World Mental Health Day which was Monday 10 October and providing some links, commenting on the Todd Sampson programme broadcast earlier this week, and sharing a personal brush with fame. Extending the theme established last term – Being our Best Selves – you’ll appreciate how the school values imbue these reflections.

World Mental Health Day: Monday 10 October

Mental Health First Aid Australia is aiming to have one in 10 Australians trained in mental health first aid over the next few years. I am so proud that we at GSG have already contributed to the figure of over 1,000,000 Australians who are now trained in this essential set of skills. 

To help us achieve the goal of one in ten Australians being trained, and to improve the mental health outcomes of every Australian, on Monday, MHFA launched a national, six week campaign designed to raise awareness of Mental Health First Aid and the courses we offer. Targeted at individuals, workplaces, secondary schools, and the community more broadly, the campaign focuses on the idea that ‘anyone can have a conversation that may save a life, and everyone should know how’.

I invite and encourage you to share this campaign via your personal and professional networks, so together we can empower everyday Australians with the skills and knowledge to have a conversation, that might just save a life.

YouTube links for you to share:

Ups and Downs animation - https://youtu.be/TLoF9p88ZHg

Richmond Institute - https://youtu.be/F-LyGbkYE3M

Toll Group - https://youtu.be/AlUfd-TGPz0

Downer - https://youtu.be/yG4GJHebwfg

Lauriston Girls' School - https://youtu.be/bTUGM3a_xYw

Northern Bay College - https://youtu.be/C-N96L0w2o4

Listen, Connect, Support - https://youtu.be/iOog5xzsAXw

As we work together towards our goal of training 1 in 10 Australians, I warmly acknowledge my colleagues and the many Great Southern Grammar community members who are so well informed about and supportive of, Mental Health First Aid.

For more information contact me and/or check out Homepage | Mental Health First Aid (mhfa.com.au).

'Mirror – Mirror: Love and Hate' on 10 Network

In accord with the launch of World Mental Health Day, some of you may have tuned into this programme earlier this week, hosted by Todd Sampson and broadcast on the 10 Network (available on 10 Play). This programme investigates how the Internet is transforming us through gaming and social media and what we can do about this, and featured a recent visitor to Great Southern Grammar, cyber safety guru Paul Litherland. Brad Marshall who many of you would know as 'The Unplugged Psychologist' is an Australian expert on gaming/screen addiction, also recommended 'Mirror – Mirror'.

We adults – parents and carers of children and adolescents – can feel completely flummoxed in this territory, as we consider how best to establish boundaries and help our young people navigate social media and a healthy online life. I would recommend Kirra - Our Team | Safe on Social Media | Online Safety Education & Training who in response to Sampson’s programme posted on her feed some excellent resources including free downloads on Omegle and OnlyFans guides for parents. Kirra describes Omegle thus: around since 2009 Omegle is something of an Internet cockroach; it just won't die and this site is a disturbing and serious concern that needs to be on your radar. Barely mentioned in cyber safety talks these days, Omegle can claim to be one of the more frightening social media services seen in quite a while.

Year Eights MHFA Certificates

This week the Year Eights certificates will be distributed along with the promised reward – a set of six grounding techniques. This variety of tools or brain breaks is really useful when practised over time: they can assist us in taking a pause and a breath; they help us notice what is going on in our bodies and our minds; they can help us be aware of our reactions; they can alert us when others might be upset or struggling… They can be our reset or pause button as we navigate our way through our day from one step or lesson, or meeting … to the next.

To remind you, some important topics the Year Eights covered in the teenMHFA course include the following: healthy minds, the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviours, the difference between mental health problems and crises, the mental health action plan (Look, Ask, Listen, Help Link with an Adult, Friendship Maintenance) and the value of help seeking.

You can find some recent research results below which reveal the very positive changes which this training has created.

teen Mental Health First Aid: 12-month outcomes from a cluster crossover randomized controlled trial evaluation of a universal program to help adolescents better support peers with a mental health problem (biomedcentral.com)

In brief, the conclusions to this research are as follows.

Conclusions: This trial showed that, one year after training, tMHFA improves first aid intentions towards peers with depression and suicide risk, confidence in helping peers with mental health problems, willingness to tell someone and seek help from an adult or health professional if experiencing a mental health problem.

Anxiety During Adolescence –Strengthening Teens Against Anxiety

An incredible event – which is amazingly free - is coming to Albany. I cannot recommend highly enough the work of Karen Young, who runs the Hey Sigmund stable of incredible productions –

Hey Sigmund | Anxiety in Teens | Helping a Child with Anxiety

Tickets will go … fast!!

Ms Sheryl Moncur | Counsellor, Teacher

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